


Brownies

by KennaxVal



Category: Veil of Secrets (Visual Novel)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-22
Updated: 2019-06-22
Packaged: 2020-05-16 06:06:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,795
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19312168
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KennaxVal/pseuds/KennaxVal





	Brownies

It had only been a couple months since I moved in with Naomi, and she had some interesting quirks, especially anything concerning bodily functions. For instance, I always have to turn on the tv whenever she goes to the bathroom. Because God forbid, I find out she has a digestive system like the rest of us.

But it didn't bother me that much. I mean, it's a pretty small price to pay for being with such a perfect and gorgeous woman. Still, it made me feel a little weirded out that she couldn't feel comfortable around me. After all, I'd seen her naked about a thousand times over by then, seen her cry and experienced enough with her that I figured I knew her top to bottom, inside and out, but I guess she wanted to preserve some "mystery."

We were at the station, and Naomi didn't seem quite like herself, so I kept asking her what was wrong only to be met with a rather cold "I'm fine" from her. At one point, I went to get us both some coffee when her mug slipped from my fingers, shattering across the floor.

"Great!" Noami barked at me, an exasperated look etched upon her beautiful face. It killed me to see her so upset, so I quickly broomed up the pieces from her mug and set mine in front of her.

"No, I feel bad." Even not feeling well, Naomi still put me ahead of herself.

"Hey." I took her by the hand, cupped her face, and lightly kissed her. "I'm the screwup here. Let me make it up to you. I can go pick up another mug from the store on my way home."

At the suggestion, Naomi bit her bottom lip and looked to the side. "While you're there, do you think you could maybe pick me up some chocolate?"

I laughed innocently. Why should she feel so awkward about asking me for that? "Sure thing. I could go for some chocolate myself."

"And maybe you could pick up some tampons as well?"

It's embarrassing to think of it now, but I have to admit I felt somewhat uncomfortable. Like almost every other guy in the world, I wasn't exactly used to talking about or dealing with anything having to do with menstruation, so the prospect of buying tampons wasn't one I relished. Of course, I quickly smiled and assured Naomi it was no problem, but I was in brand new territory. 

As I drove to the market, I scolded myself for how I felt. Why was I making such a big deal out of this? It's a perfectly natural phenomenon, but it's so completely outside of the male experience. I've heard it compared to having someone tie your insides up and stomp on them, which isn't pleasant, but it's not like something like that would ever happen to me, much less once a month. And there certainly wouldn't be a stigma around what happened. 

That last point made me feel especially guilty. Whatever happens to women every month, it's nothing to get excited about, and men always act like it's something to hide. I can just imagine some religious types telling young girls that it's their fault because of Eve eating the apple or some garbage like that. Well, if guys were going to make any improvement, I figured they might as well start with me. 

Naomi may have sent me to get her chocolate, but I was determined to give her a special experience. Little did she know that I am the king of brownies, and in all modesty, they taste so good that she'll likely forget any of the painful things happening to her. First, I picked up eight ounces each of dark and milk chocolate, a bag of all-purpose flour, unsalted butter, espresso powder, dutch process cocoa powder, a carton of eggs, granulated sugar, dark brown sugar, sea salt, vanilla extract, and some coarse sea salt flakes.

With all my ingredients in the cart, I had only the task of the tampons. I approached the aisle marked "feminine care" and stood confidently as if I had a clue what I was doing. It didn't take long for me to realize that I didn't know anything. Did she want a particular brand? How many different types are there to choose from? 

I reached into my pocket and called Naomi. Ring after ring and she didn't answer. 'Damn it,' I thought to myself and put my phone back in my pocket. Frantically, my eyes wander the shelves until the word "super" caught my attention. I picked up the box inquisitively. 

'Super... like it's a super tampon. As in... super quality tampon, right?'

The questions raced in my mind, but ultimately, I decided that this must mean that it's better than most products and made my way to purchase. On the other end of the counter was a guy who gave me a very odd look, but it didn't bother me. If he wants to be immature, that's his problem, just as long as he's not a dick to any women about it.

Once I was home, I set to work in the kitchen, chopping up the dark chocolate and putting it into a liquid measuring cup with a quarter cup of the cocoa powder and a tablespoon of espresso powder. I then placed one and a half cups of butter in a saucepan over low heat and let it melt. I love the smell of the butter melting, and even more, as I pour it into the measuring cup to melt the chocolate.

As the ganache was melting, I set a timer for two minutes while I grabbed the mixer and put two cups of the granulated sugar with half a cup of the dark brown sugar, two teaspoons each of salt and vanilla extract and six eggs. With a whisk, I stirred the chocolate until all the ingredients were incorporated and turned on the mixer to the highest setting for ten minutes.

I set the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit so it could preheat while I worked on everything else: chopping up the milk chocolate, greasing the tin with excess butter and parchment paper and spent the rest of the time cleaning up as much as I could.

After ten minutes, I poured the ganache in, letting it all mix together and turned off the mixer. I then grabbed a sieve and worked in one cup of all-purpose flour and half a cup of cocoa powder before taking the milk chocolate chunks and stirring it all together. Assuming Naomi was anything like me, I set some of the batter aside, even forgoing licking the rubber spatula so that she could have as much as possible. 

I put the tin in the oven for twenty minutes, taking it out to smack it against the counter which ensured that it cooked evenly and placed sea salt flakes on top before putting it back in for twenty-five minutes. 

As always, they came out perfect, and I felt very excited for Naomi to tasty these chocolate squares of heaven.

It wasn't long after that when Naomi pulled up and walked inside; she looked like she'd been through a rough day, and she had. She had just finished a late night shift before Flynn relieved her. Of course, she stilled looked radiant. I couldn't wait to see a smile spread across her gorgeous face.

"Aw, Michael, you didn't have to go through all this trouble," she said, wrapping me in a hug, "but thank you."

My work was well worth it as I saw Naomi's eyes go wide with delight. Not to be vulgar, but let's just say that the sounds she made as she ate the brownies wouldn't be appropriate for children to hear. She pressed her lips to mine, and I tasted her mouth in an especially delicious kiss.

And just when I was feeling like the boyfriend of the year, Naomi took a look at the pack of tampons, and a groan escaped her lips.

"Ugh, why did you buy super?"

I was confused. Why would Naomi have a problem with me buying a higher quality tampon? 

"Michael," Naomi said placing her hands on my shoulders, "I appreciate you trying, and it's almost adorable how ignorant you are, but the store closes in ten minutes, and if you don't get the right tampons, we're going to have a problem."

I raced to my car and screeched out of the driveway. How was I supposed to make it in less than ten minutes? Maybe I should've been annoyed that Naomi didn't tell me that "super" doesn't mean "super quality," but I could never feel that way about her. She's going through a lot both at work and inside her body. Any man who's honest with himself knows that if we went through anything like a period, we would do nothing but complain and demand that the world come to a halt until we felt better. So the fact that women keep pushing on is nothing short of miraculous. 

Luckily, the town is pretty small, and there was no traffic. I flew by light with reckless abandon, powering through like the fate of the world depended on it. And, to be honest, it did. At least my world. If I let Naomi down, I would've felt even worse than she did.

I was almost at the store when the flashing police light approached me.

'Dammit, Flynn. Not now.'

Pushing my luck, I kept going until I was at the entrance. If I weren't in such a hurry, the look on Flynn's face would've been priceless.

"Dude, what the hell?"

"Flynn, I'm really sorry, but I had to get to the store."

"And what was so important?"

"Uh, Naomi needed me to get the right tampons."

"The right... oh... ugh, just go ahead, man. Do whatever you gotta do."

I walked in with seconds to spare. Flynn would need to have Kate talk to him if he was going to be more enlightened, but that would have to wait. 

This time, I knew the exact brand and type, thanks for Naomi, quickly made the purchase and let out a long exhale as I entered my car.

After taking a minute to catch my breath, I sent Naomi a text telling her everything and that I loved her. And I do. Days like those can be nice even if they are crazy stressful. There really is nothing quite like a good learning experience to make me appreciative of everything Naomi and every other woman endures to keep life going. At that point, it was only a matter of getting home before she finished all the brownies.


End file.
